Chinese doctors are using virtual reality to help perform operations thousands of miles away

A doctor operates on a patient with a surgical robot in Hefei, Anhui province September 24, 2014. REUTERS / Stringer

Doctors in China performed surgery on a bone fracture on Monday.

The twist? The chief doctor Ye Zhewei was over 2,000 miles away.

Ye was able to annotate a 3D image of the fracture and instruct surgeons thousands of miles away using virtual reality.

Doctors in China have used virtual reality technology and 3D imaging to allow a surgeon to help in an operation taking place thousands of kilometres away, according to a newspaper report.

Doctors performed the surgery on a bone fracture at a hospital in Bortala in the Xinjiang region of northwest China on Monday, the Xinjiang Morning Post reported.

The chief doctor Ye Zhewei was, however, in a hospital in Wuhan in central Hubei province, about 3,700km (2,300 miles) away.

Ye was able to follow the procedure on a virtual reality technology headset and marked on a 3D image instructions for his colleagues to follow.

REUTERS / Fabian Bimmer

The 59-year-old woman patient, whose full name was not given, told the newspaper: "All the bones, muscle and nerves in my body became a 3D image. The position of the fracture became obvious and it also helped me to understand my condition."

Ye was quoted as saying that the technology saved the expense of flying staff to help with operations far away and was more sophisticated than using simple webcams.

Ye added that technology would be applied to many more kinds of operation in the future.